Saint Paul's College Europe Trip 2014: Day 12 – The Western Front

After a night in Amiens we hit the trail for a continuation of our look at important sites on the Western Front, and especially those places that are of special importance to Australia. The first of these was Fromelles. This was the site of the first infantry attack by Australian soldiers in France. Many Gallipoli veterans went “over the top” here. Many died in what was a useless attack.

The memorial consists of one man carrying another wounded man to safety, and is called the Cobbers memorial.

Our visit was on a cold, blustery and wet day. The fields were very muddy and thick with mud. Just like it would have been for the soldiers on the day of the attack.

The Cobbers Memorial

After the Australians organised a truce with the Germans to rescue the wounded, they were forbidden to do this by their English leadership. So they did it anyway!

The Group at the Cobbers Memorial

A few hundred meters away is the fully Australian cemetery called VC Corner. It has this name because they reckoned every man in it was a hero. The cemetery was created after the war when only 410 men from the 1300 men killed at Fromelles were found. None could be identified so they were buried together and 410 red rose bushes were planted instead of a lot of white headstones with no name on them.

VC Corner

David, Theo (back to camera) Jack and Emmanuuele. They look cold don’t they?

We returned to the bus and drove toward our 3^rd country, Belgium.

Entering Belgium

We soon came to the lovely town of Ipers (once called Ypres). This town was totally destroyed during WW1 and was rebuilt exactly the way it was before the war.

The thing that was most on the boys mind was ….Lunch!

Although in Belgium James thought that Pasta was needed to “refuel” his tank.

After lunch we travelled to Tyne Cot Cemetary. This is the largest Commonwealth Cemetary in the world with 12,000 men interned within its walls. It is a very sobering thing to walk among the graves and see the ages of these very young men. Over 8,000 of these graves are without a name.

The group with a few of the graves behind. (it was still freezing cold)

There are few places along the old Western Front that have trenches still clear and visible, but at a small private museum there is a section of trenches still in their original form. This is at the Hill 62 Trench Museum. This section has been preserved relatively intact. On a cold, wet and rainy day like today it was a perfect illustration to the students of the real conditions that would have been experienced by the soldiers.

Mr Scritchley giving Jack and David a quick lesson about trench design

Theo and Brandon experiencing life in the Trenches

Julius standing at the back of this line of trenches.

A dug out that the men would have lived in

The Museum also housed a small but very extensive collection of WW1 Memorabilia. This was everything from posters to motorbikes and even weapons.

A Trench Mortar

Our last stop with the bus was at Essex Farm memorial and cemetery. Essex Farm was an advanced aid station. This is where the men were brought after 1^st aid where they were wounded. It is here that doctors tried to save limbs and lives during the 2^nd battle of Ypres. One of these doctors was John McCrae. After the things he saw prompted him to write one of the seminal WW1 Poems, “In Flanders Fields”.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands, we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

By this time we were tired and in need of warmth and food. So we went to our Hostel in Ypres. We found this to be sited a mere 100 meters from the Menin Gate, where we wanted to watch the last post ceremony carried out by the fire brigade of Ypres every night at 8pm since WW1. (except during the German occupation of WW2)

However dinner was first and the boys enjoyed a ½ a chicken and chips for dinner at a local restaurant.

We also discovered that a local Chocolate shop had heard of our visit and welcomed the boys to a special deal to buy chocolate. So I am sure that everyone at home will look forward to their share of the delicious Belgium Chocolate. If it gets home !!!

The ceremony occurs inside the Menin Gate Memorial that contains the names of nearly 55,000 men who died on the Ypres Salient and have no known grave.

The Menin Gate

The Last Post ceremony in Ypres at the Menin Gate.

The students stood silently as the buglers plaid the last post. They proudly held the Australian Flag that we had brought with us, and honoured the men of Australia whose names are on the walls behind them,